The words of 8:4 have been a theme throughout this book (also 2:7 and 3:5). But, this time the warning is more severe and pressing.

In 2:7 the young woman calls her girlfriends to swear an oath and urges them to make a promise.
Now, in 8:4 she is commanding them!

One of the desires most people have, and one that is stronger in woman, especially young woman, is the desire for romance. (Think chic-flic.) And, all the more when you watch someone else experiencing the passions of falling in love and romance. This desire, like all desires, can lead to poor decisions.

This young woman who has found her right man and is in the midst of experiencing the bliss of falling in love is basically telling all her girlfriends to wait. She is telling them not to force romance into a relationship. Do not convince yourself you are falling in love. Do not manipulate the guy, or the situation, because it will backfire on you.

"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or
awaken love until it pleases."

Irenaeus wrote around 180 AD the following:

“While I was yet a boy, I saw you in Lower Asia with Polycarp…I can even describe the place where the blessed Polycarp used to sit and teach,…together with the discourses that he delivered to the people. I can remember also, how he would speak of his familiar relations with John, and with the rest of those who had seen the Lord. I remember how he would call their words to remembrance. Whatever things he had heard from them respecting the Lord, both with regard to His miracles and His teaching, Polycarp would recount them all in harmony with the Scriptures – having in that manner received it from the eye-witnesses of the Word of life.”